La Habra Police Open Fire On Burglary Suspect After He Careens Through Garage Doors In Escalade

LA HABRA (CBSLA) – A burglary suspect was shot and killed by La Habra police officers in the early morning hours Thursday after he allegedly rammed his way out of a used car lot in a Cadillac Escalade and tried to run them down following a standoff.

The incident began at around 2:40 a.m. when La Habra police responded to a burglary call at Metro Auto, located at 1250 E La Habra Blvd.

Officers swarmed the scene and surrounded the business, where they discovered a black Escalade with its engine running on the dealership's lot and the suspect inside. According to neighbors, officers spent about 30 minutes on a loudspeaker attempting to get the man to surrender. Police told CBS2 he was flashing gang signs and claimed he had a gun.

Officers tried firing off rounds of less-than-lethal ammunition, but that failed to get him to surrender, police said.

The suspect began to ram his vehicle into parked cars on the lot. Then, police said, he came speeding out of one of the roll-up garage doors, breaking through its metal and then trying to run down the officers.

At that point, they opened fire on the Cadillac, riddling it with bullets. Witnesses told CBS2 they heard at least a dozen gunshots, some of which were recorded on a cell phone.

"When the shots occurred, it was after commands obviously, and then the guy yelling, and then more commands like 'get out of the vehicle, hands up,'" neighbor Sicily Robinett said. "And then when the gunshots happened, there were like two gunshots I want to say, a small second or two pause, and then probably like eight to 10 multiple rapid shots after that."

The suspect died at the scene. He was not identified. No officers were hurt. It's unclear if the man was armed or returned fire.

The Orange County District Attorney's Office is investigating.